October 20, 2013

So many cute pictures this week.  I had to split this week into two posts - and still save some extra cute ones of Tommy for his seven month post next week.  Hope you enjoy this week's shenanigans....

 Lily making Tommy look like a monkey.  They both thought this was so funny last Monday night.

Annie made it back to gymnastics this week.  After taking some time off to heal from her surgery.  She jumped right back in and was so happy to see her teacher again.

After gymnastics we met Daddy at his office for lunch.  Daddy is actually in a temporary office while his is getting redone.  Soon he will be moving to another location which will be closer to the rest of his team.  Lily had fun drawing our family on his white board.  The black arch between Mommy and Daddy is a rainbow - with limited colors, what's a girl to do?  We love how she gave all of us eyebrows.  After eating lunch, we had spinning races in Daddy's chair.

 Lily and Annie are having a birthday party in two weeks.  Lily didn't like any of the invitations in the stores, and Mommy didn't like the cost of the ones online - so we sat down together and designed our own invitations.  Lily wanted to have treasure and pirate flags on the invites.  We're really happy with how they turned out.  Lily helped stick the flags and jewels on the cards.  She was very proud of her work.

The girls both complain of headaches when we take drives in the car.  So once again we bought them sunglasses.  These were only a dollar a pair so if they get lost, it won't be too hard to replace them.  They want to wear them everywhere!

 Lily is loving dance again.  They have a cute routine and Lily leaves class singing the song every week.  Her first performance will be in March so they have a lot of time to get everything perfect.

While Mommy tried to shower on Thursday, Annie decided to color all over the kitchen floor with blue crayon.  I made her scrub it all up.  She was so happy to do it....can't you tell?

 I made our family's favorite dinner this week.  Annie was all about the noodles.  She just grabbed a handful started munching away before we were even done with the prayer.

Guess who FINALLY started crawling this week?  Saturday night Tommy started making the movements right before bed time.  Then Sunday after church, he took off after a toy.  Daddy was the first to see him do it.  There's no stopping this boy now.

 We learned that we can successfully grow onions.  It was exciting to harvest them.  We've been curing them in the garage for three weeks and now they are ready to store.  Next year we will plant more varieties.

Annie turned three years old on Friday!  Her requested birthday breakfast was cinnamon pancakes with Mommy's maple-vanilla syrup.  We didn't do much to celebrate that day.  But we made up for it the next day.  Plus she'll be having her party in two weeks and she is so excited to wear her pirate costume for her party.

Lily participated in the Primary program in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday.  Saturday morning we had a two hour rehearsal at the church to get ready.  Here's Lily with her friends Claire and Alyssa.

Saturday afternoon Annie desperately needed a nap and insisted she didn't want one.  She fell asleep in her bed bent in half like this after crying for nearly 20 minutes.  Thankfully she did take her nap and woke up ready for an afternoon of fun.  Check out our next post to see what we did.

October 13, 2013

This was a fun but trying week.  Annie was not sleeping well as she healed from the surgery - and struggled to adjust to sleeping in her bed again.  Tommy has been fussy and waking one to two times a night.  So Mommy and Daddy are pretty exhausted.  Thankfully on Friday night all the kids slept through the night and we were able to catch up on some precious hours of sleep.  In spite of sleepiness, we had some really fun times as you're about to see....

Some neighbors hold an annual outdoor Halloween carnival early in October before the weather gets too cold.  Unfortunately this year it was really cold, wet, and windy.  The carnival was moved to our church meetinghouse.  We started with a parade.  Poor Annie was not a fan of being in the parade.

 After the parade, all the children were given a punch pass for over twenty games and activities.  Lily was excited and ready for fun!  Annie wanted to be there but was still very tired from her surgery so she had to take it easy.

 Three very tired Halloween hooligans after a night of fun.  It was a spectacular evening.  We are so grateful for good friends who are willing to put in the time and money to provide a safe celebration for everyone in our neighborhood.

 How adorable is this auburn haired rodeo queen?  Lily was invited to her first birthday party for a friend.  She had fun shopping for a gift and planning her outfit.  It was cowgirl/rodeo themed so we dressed to the nines.  Lily had a blast.  It was emotional for Mommy to drop Lily off at the party.  She is growing up too quickly.  At the party the girls were given a cowboy hat.  Lily was excited to bring home a purple hat for Annie.

  Just had to throw in a cute picture of messy faced Tommy.  He's doing pretty well.  We're struggling with a diaper rash that just won't quit.  But he's generally a good baby.

 Annie turned a corner in her recovery on Thursday.  She is now making it all day without medication and eating almost all her normal foods again.  Our main issue now is anxiety at bedtime and frequent waking at night.  Hopefully that will calm down soon and she'll be better than ever.

 Our neighbor gave us about six pounds of plums last week.  We love plums but haven't been able to get through all of them, so I made some jam.  Just one batch made 11 half pint jars.  It is tasty and the color is so pretty.  I'm glad the kids like it since they'll be eating a lot of PB&J sandwiches with it.  Lily was eating it by the spoonful.  Tommy was all smiles in the kitchen while I worked.  It was a long process and I am glad our little Bubba was cooperative so I could get my work done.

 Annie needed a break from the house and an incentive for potty training.  I took all the kids out for burgers and fries for lunch.  The toy in their meals was a donkey costume - REALLY? - what kid thinks it would be totally cool to dress up like a donkey?  Lily was a good sport and modeled the costume for a picture.

 After a fantastic week of no accidents - even post surgery - Annie had a slight set back.  She's had about two accidents a day for the past three days.  She even peed on her dress and the carpet at church today while I was playing the piano in Primary.  We had to rush home and change clothes because I had only brought extra panties and tights in case of an accident.  Overall she is doing great and she's doing it eight months earlier than Lily did so we're just happy it is happening so soon.

 Papa came for a quick weekend visit to help us fix our roof and see Brady's choir concert.  It is fun for me to be back in the hall where I did so many performances and see my brother having fun onstage too.  Brady's choir was very entertaining.  It was a great show. 

 The roof job was a quick and inexpensive fix.  Hopefully no more shingles will come off before winter!

 Tommy is NEARLY crawling.  I feel like we say that every week.  But he's closer than ever this week. 

Annie and Lily really liked having Papa here.  They played games, did puzzles, snuggled at nap times, and read stories.  Lily cried Sunday morning after Papa left.  Good thing he'll be back with Puna very soon.

October 06, 2013

Our whole week was wrapped up in Annie's tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy.  Monday and Tuesday were all about getting laundry, shopping, and cleaning done.  Wednesday we had our pre-op appointment and labs.  Wednesday night Grammy and Grampy Hall came to stay with us and help care for Lily and Tommy.  Thursday morning we were up before the sun at 6:00 a.m. to get Annie to the hospital.

All the people and monitors were a little overwhelming at first.  But once she got to put on a gown and watch some cartoons, she was all smiles.

The first gown was too big so Annie got a new purple one.  She was given a teddy bear.  When the nurse came to prep Annie for her IV catheter she gave Annie and Teddy cute matching headbands.  We were still all smiles until the IV went in.  Annie's only protest was to say "I don't like it." But she left it alone and didn't complain about it any more.

She started getting loopy and struggled with dry mouth and coughing fits due to the medication.  But she was still a trooper.  The last thing she asked about before surgery was Lily.

Of course girls with matching headbands need to have matching gloves too!

Post-op was a little tougher than I expected.  Annie woke up early and had blood and fluid coming out of her nose.  She was agitated and didn't want to swallow anything.  Then she got really exhausted and weepy.  After trying many different treats and drinks at various temperatures, we got her to take in warm blue jello.  She perked up within 30 minutes of finishing the jello and we left to go home at 11:00 a.m.

 Instead of a wheelchair, we rolled out in a wagon.  The nursing staff really knows how to cater to children.  They were wonderful.

 Since Thursday we've been resting and pushing fluids.  She spent most of Thursday sitting on someone's lap and whimpering because of the pain - then when she'd try to eat or drink she would cry because she was hungry but it hurt too much to swallow.  That was the roughest patch.  Our nights are going pretty well - if only Lily and Tommy would stay asleep as well, Mommy could get some rest too.

By Sunday Annie looked like this.  She's eating very well and trying to understand why her throat hurts so much.  Hopefully this will pass soon.  She sounds so different when she talks and she breathes so quietly at night we can hardly hear her.  Get well soon Annie!